The present invention is generally directed to bulding block apparatus, and more specifically to tessellation building block apparatus that can be arrayed as tessellation shapes and their derivatives, into geometric forms that construct various types of structures.
Currently, building lumber boards, layered insulated panel structures, and composite materials are engineered products that must be custom manufactured for every job, requiring manual cuts to achieve the geometry desired in a building. It would be far superior to use a building structure that does not require customization in order to assemble the geometric shapes required to construct a building or other structure. Further, many materials are either not easy to cut, or are unhealthy to fashion on the job. It would be highly desirable to have a building structure that can tolerate high stress loads and does not require numerous amounts of customization.
Accordingly, there is a continuing need in the art for a type of building structure that can be used to produce most geometries desired in the construction of a building or other structure. It is also desirable for a building structure to recyclable, allowing building occupants to be able to change a building""s geometry in relatively short time without cutting any panels to achieve the new geometry. This is useful since in the field of building materials, many composite materials are very difficult to cut, and many concrete fiber-type materials produce carcinogens when cut.
In brief, this invention is directed to a building block that does not need to be cut to assemble geometric shapes required to build a building or other structure. Materials can be selected for building blocks that are not easy to cut or healthy to cut on the job, but are good environmental material like concrete fiber sheeting. The skill level needed to produce a building is reduced. Structures are recyclable to other like buildings in the normal course of remodeling and can be retrieved for new buildings, after natural disasters like tornado, hurricane, flooding, earthquakes, and tidal waves randomly scatter building parts. The present invention is recyclable directly to another building using the same dimension of hexagon, or a hexagon twice the size and half the size. Hexagons can be clustered providing construction of smaller hexagons with larger hexagons. In one embodiment of the present invention, the apparatus is a hexagon panel assembly, which includes geometric derivatives of hexagons and a header for door and window openings to assemble single or double hexagon panel walls including a pitched roof. A floor base plate is designed to mount to the floor and establish the wall locations. Steel wire can make the independent hexagon components all one strong assembly. Contractors could pick the building off the ground as one unit.
In still a further embodiment of the present invention, square-shaped panel assemblies and their derivatives are utilized for the offset layering building structures. Square shapes, however, do not assemble into 30 degree pitched roofs, circular geometry, or provide the maximum equally spaced fasteners per square foot of buildings. Stresses are lower in hexagons than in squares. Concrete squares layered, provides a high performance foundation floor. Walls made from squares and square derivatives in the shape of rectangles and triangles form walls and 45xc2x0 pitch roofs. Window and door openings can also be assembled from square tessellations and their derivatives. Square and hexagon tessellation walls and floors, or other structures can be assembled into one structure. Other types of tessellation panel assemblies are also contemplated, and can be utilized without departing from the scope of the present invention.
In still a further embodiment of the invention a hexagon tessellation frame is provided to replace dimensional lumber for the construction of ceilings, roofs, wall and other structure. These tessellation frames also can be a variety of shapes, but hexagons are a preferred embodiment for offset layering and common fastening points.
In still a further embodiment of the invention, closed cell spheres are cast into foam from aluminum, ceramic, glass, polymers, polyimides, and other materials as spheres or closed cell materials become available. Further these closed cell foam spheres can have the gases or air replaced with fluids like perilites that are phase change materials or gases like helium. Some spheres are coatings providing spheres within spheres.
Utilizing the present invention, a structurally sound building can be assembled in harsh climatic regions. The building can be assembled on snow, ice fields, desert sand, and flood plains. When panels contain foam materials the building will float on water and will rise from the ground during flooding of the grounds around the building. This building could be used as a houseboat.